What a big adventure this book is! I don't typically love fantasy, but the aspects in The Bird King were enticing and not overdone. The ending had me a little confused, but I think that was intentional, and I'm okay with that.

My Summary:
The Bird King is a lush historical fantasy that uses the context of the end of the European Muslim Empire and the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition to examine the balance between religion, power dynamics, and what it means to belong. In a similar vein to C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials,” though decidedly more adult, The Bird King has a fairytale-like quality that blends reality and the fantastic to discuss big ideas in an intimate way. G. Willow Wilson sends her protagonists, Fatima, the last Circassian concubine to the Sultan, and Hassan, the royal mapmaker with a magical gift, on a journey to discover a truer understanding of faith, love, and how belief can shape the world around us. With the reluctant help of the jinn, Vikram the Vampire, Fatima and Hassan traverse the Iberian Peninsula, pursued by the Inquisition and the darker forces that drive it, to find refuge on the mythical island of the Bird King.

MY REVIEW: 4 STARS

I chose to read The Bird King for a few reasons: 1) I adore G. Willow Wilson's run on Ms. Marvel, 2) The Setting/Time period was new and interesting to me, 3) I have a personal goal to read more diverse authors and gain a greater perspective on different cultures, and 4) Full Disclosure: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

After reading The Bird King and thinking about it for a couple weeks (because boy this is a "Book of BIG IDEAS"), I've concluded that this book is SO MUCH MORE than any summation could possibly prepare you for! I will do my best to stay out of the weeds, but there is a lot to unpack here:

Overview:
Overall, I enjoyed reading The Bird King. Pacing is an issue with this book as the actual adventure starts off slow, dragging to the midpoint, but gets more intense after that, terrifying at some point because, well, the Inquisition, and fantastic at others with trickster jinn and terrifying dragons living on the edges of maps. The character relationships are especially complex and are really the driving force for the narrative. I can’t say the two main characters, Fatima and Hassan, start out likable because that would be a disservice to the amount of character development this book throws at you. Their growth relates specifically to the people around them and helps to demonstrate the bigger ideas, specifically around love, faith, and freedom where G. Willow Wilson really goes all out. At the end of the day it was tackling the more abstract portions of the book that I enjoyed the most. This might be because I love to torture myself. Honestly, this has been a hard review to write because I keep going into “Book Report” mode wanting to write a thesis instead of a review! There are so many lenses you can view The Bird King though: Historically, culturally, philosophically, as a hero’s journey, and as a coming of age story. The best part is that G. Willow Wilson’s prose is so lovely that you experience many of these simultaneously. It all weaves together beautifully, and rewards both the over-thinker (me) and the casual reader alike.

Cons:
The Bird King is not a perfect book, but I certainly appreciated it. It tends to get bogged down when the journey begins, reminiscent of The Fellowship of the Ring where there’s just a whole lot of walking and talking. Oddly enough, the next pacing issue is whiplash where there would be a paragraph describing one thing and then the next would jump to something completely unrelated, causing me to re-read sections to see if I missed something. This was even more annoying as it happened more frequently at the end of the book, which was already confusing due to the more fantastic setting. This led the ending to feel a bit overwhelming and rushed. I was a little let down by the ending, which tried to be both ambiguous and relatable, but not enough to undo my overall enjoyment of reading The Bird King.

Pros:
Everything else really. The setting is vivid, the time period unique in the world of fantasy. I feel like I learned a lot about the transition from a Muslim Europe to the Spanish Inquisition. I enjoyed the characters, especially because they do grow and evolve, and who doesn’t love mischievous jinn? Fatima and Hassan’s relationship is like nothing I have personally read before, and I really appreciated every exploration, from the view of a gay man in that time period to all the examples of female leadership. The places where reality and fantasy met each other were atmospheric and tense, making me want to read more so that by the time you get to the end, you certainly feel like you’ve been transported into the book.
My favorite parts were how the abstract themes tied into the characters themselves. This made sense in retrospect as The Bird King (title and everything) is a reference to the real Persian poem, The Conference of the Birds, by Attar of Nishapur. The poem is about how the birds of the world had no ruler and, led by the wisest the hoopoe, they go on a journey to find the legendary bird king, Simorgh, to lead them. I haven’t read the actual poem, but from what I gather, each bird represents a part of human nature, like possession or pride, and they each learn a lesson like in Aesop fables. I imagine that reading it would give me a whole other level of understanding. However, I feel like Wilson gives you more than enough history and explanation to make it unnecessary for enjoyment. As a gateway to a piece of renown Persian text, I love how much I’ve learned about Middle Eastern Mythology from just this book. It feels like such a powerful piece of fantasy.

Conclusion:
When I started reading The Bird King, I had no idea how BIG a book it really was. I’m glad I read it and plan to tuck it on my shelf with His Dark Materials and The Chronicles of Narnia. Like them, this is an excellent adventure with a lot of abstract ideas woven in. I really enjoyed The Bird King on so many levels. It sent my academic brain into a spin cycle. I really hope more people pick up this beautiful book and I can’t wait to read more G. Willow Wilson in the future!

The Bird King was a gorgeous, breath-taking read. While the story itself was slow-paced, I didn't mind and wanted to savor every word.

Fatima, a royal concubine, learns of a threat to one of her dearest friends, Hassan (who happens to be a gay mapmaker) and has them run away to save his life.

The story is intertwined with stories of a mythical bird king and flows beautifully into the narrative of Fatima and Hassan's quest for freedom.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

While it was a slower read, ultimately, than I had been expecting, that same strength in writing and the unexpected depth of thought given to the historical events, religious interactions, and cultures of the time period ultimately drew me in.

Fatima and her friend Hassan have built a quiet life for themselves in the circumstances they have found themselves in: she a concubine to the sultan and he a mapmaker. But Hassan is much more than your ordinary mapmaker and possess the incredible gift of not only drawing up intricate maps of the places he’s never been, but also, through these maps, interrupting the weave of reality itself. But when Hassan suddenly falls under the eyes of those who would see his gift as more of a threat than a blessing, he and Fatima must go on the run, seeking out a mystical island as their one port of harbor for a safe life going forward.

I haven’t read too many books set in this time period or within these combinations of cultures. The book is tackling a lot: the persecution under the Spanish Inquisition, the clashes between religious forces taking place in that time, plus a healthy dose of magic realism to differentiate it from a purely historical fiction work. But I think it is this last portion, the interweaving of the fantastical elements that really made this book sing for me. There are a lot of big ideas being tossed around throughout the story, but many of these are explored from a bit of an angle, with the author approaching them almost from the side, using fairytale-like elements to draw readers into a deceptively complicated, real-world issue. Metaphor and stylized writing are also used to great effect to, again, almost backwards-walk readers into topics that can get pretty dicey pretty quickly. Of course, I’m always going to love anything that reads like a fairytale, but I appreciate it all the more when an author is able to use this writing style to get at deeper topics that can often be challenging to get across.

I also very much liked the two main characters in Fatima and Hassan. At first, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to feel about Fatima, but as the story progressed, I found myself becoming more and more invested in their platonic friendship and love. It’s a rare read to find a story that focuses on this type of strong relationship, one that isn’t based on romantic love (Hassan is gay, another factor that leads to his persecution), but that still highlights the extent to which each party will go for the other. The fact that they aren’t romantically involved never feels like it detracts from what they would do for each other, and, instead, in some ways it feels that their bond is even stronger by being freed from that element. It’s a unique relationship to see explored so thoroughly in this type of book.

I will say, however, that the story is pretty slow going. It takes quite a bit for them to even get started on their journey, and then once they do, it doesn’t speed up much. There’s a lot of travel, camping, small moments of action, and then more travel and camping. The writing was still captivating, which was enough to get me through these slower elements, but I can see how this could be off-putting to many readers, especially ones who may not be as interested in the greater themes being explored at the heart of the story. I do think more could have been done to tighten up this middle portion of the book, as the fact that it ultimately worked for me seems to speak more to my own preference than to the general quality of the story structure.

Overall, “The Bird King” was a surprisingly deep and satisfying read for me. There were, however, some stumbling blocks with the pacing and writing speed, which is what knocks it back a few points for me. It’s a lengthy story, and while it is trying to cover a lot of different things, I do think it could have been tightened up to increase its general appeal. If you like historical fiction blended with magical realism, especially dealing with a unique set of characters and a time period that isn’t often explored in this way, definitely give “The Bird King” a try. Just know that you might need to push through in the beginning before really getting to the good stuff.

Rating 7: A beautifully written story that covers a complicated time with two wonderful characters at its heart. Only lowered by being a bit too slow for my taste.

Willow has managed to weave a multi colored rich tapestry in beautiful jewel tones of ideas and characters in this fairy tale with [as usual] under tones of morality to make you think. The entrancing tale centers on a born slave girl turned concubine to the sultan by the name of Fatima and her very unusual best friend Hassain. Set in Spain right when the Spanish were taking areas back over from the Moors using Chrisitianity as their badge of merit. It is one of the darkest times of Europe in particular Spain with the onset of the so called Inquisition that murdered more people by torture than will ever be known.. They did this imo for the patriarchy and enslavement of peoples under the guise of Christianity mainly going after healers and cunning women with knowledge to hand down for greed as it allowed the theft of land and property as well as the attempted destruction of anything of cultural belif systems that would get in the way of their heavy handed new ideal of control. They payed dear for this afterward with the plagues created by the deaths of so many cats during that period that killed the rats. The hand of the church involved in this was brutal against anyone different and when ready to take over the sultans fortress there is the issue of handing it over to the Spanish but more their intent of purging it as well as all other areas under the guise of religion. Hassain has unique supernatural gifts on top of being gay which would be two strikes automatically against him either one that could be used as an excuse for torturous death. The sultan is forced to turn him over or else and thus starts a remarkable journey. I really loved this book and the beauty it evoked as well as the darkness and perseverance of justice versus dogma.

I am kind of bored reading fantasy books set in pseudo-European medieval setting. I've tried to diversity my reads (and authors) this year. So far, I've read 12 of non-pseudo Euro medieval setting out of the total 19 fantasy novels/novella/graphic novels. Yet, I feel I still need to challenge myself to read more of it.

G. Willow Wilson has dazzled me since I read Alif the Unseen. She scored high in everything I want: characters, plots, worldbuilding (!) and dialogues. The scores remain high with this book. The setting was Granada, during the last days of the sultanate in Spain, when Isabella and Ferdinand were close in completing the reconquista. It was lush, it was magical. We even got to meet some characters in Alif the Unseen, though this is not a prequel.

The main character was Fatima, a favored concubine of the sultan, who was a good example of a strong female character without having to know martial arts or swing a sword or even using the so-called feminine 'wiles'. Her assertiveness and resoluteness made me care. I adored her relationship with her gay best friend who's a magical cartographer, they loved each other but also capable in breaking each other's hearts. Who said such relationship only applies to cis characters?
Their tale of survival - seeking this mythical island of The Bird King - was fascinating, and I enjoyed each page till the very end, leaving me wanting more.

Thanks Netgalley and Grove Press for the opportunity to be immersed in this enchanting book.

Fatima lives an unusual life as a concubine to the sultan. While her body and decisions are not her own, she does live a life of privilege in the palace and has plenty of time to spend with her best friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. Hassan is gay and Fatima is the only Circassian who lives in the palace, so they don't fit in with the rest of the court. They spend their free time exploring the world through the magic doors Hassan can draw onto his maps. When the Spanish Inquisition arrives at the palace, things change very quickly. The sultan is willing to make sacrifices to keep the peace, starting with his mapmaker who is seen as a sorcerer by the Inquisitors. Fatima and Hassan escape the palace, searching for a place where they will be safe and accepted.

The Bird King is unlike anything I have read before. The magic in this story is apparent on every page, but its true focus is the friendship between Fatima and Hassan. While both of them will have romance in this story, their relationship is the heart of this story. It's wonderful to read about friends and see how the two of them support and fail each other in new and dangerous circumstances. There is a push and pull throughout between a blind faith and the work of putting one foot in front of the other, between kindness at your own expense and the expectation of pain and betrayal.

Every few chapters, I could point out another place where the story could have diverted and revealed the history of a relationship or a certain kind of magic. But the 440 pages are devoted instead to Fatima and Hassan's search for a mythical island where they will finally be free from the Inquisition. Fatima is certain that with Hassan's gift for creating places and helping them to get there, they can reach the island they have read about and live under the protection of the Bird King.

When I knew the end of the story was coming, I found that I was sad that my time with Fatima, Hassan, and all of the other characters was coming to an end. Surely this is the mark of a well-told tale, but G. Willow Wilson can also take this as my suggestion that she write another book set in this world!

The Bird King
By G. Willow Wilson
Grove Press March 2019
440 pages
Read via Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me a copy to review. This in no way affected my opinions in any way. 

TW: torture, attempted rape

In retrospect, I loved this book. It was witty, sensitive, historical, and full of faith. Wilson wrote a poetic story that allowed me to learn about the Spanish Inquisition and Alhambra while breaking stereotypes about what a woman should be. 

"You're always so angry," he said. "I don't understand. You have pretty clothes, entertainments, food when others go hungry. You have the love of a sultan. What else could you possibly want?"

"To be sultan."

Fatima is one of the best female characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. She is gentle to though who have less than her but she also isn't afraid to take what she needs or piss people off because they deserve it. Like the time that she pushed a serving plater with her feet to one of the members of the Inquisition, it was hilarious and he totally deserved it. Hassan was the perfect counterpart to her. He made up in the places that she was weak. Not to mention he has a really cool ability that allows him to make passages and places that don't exist. Because of this power, he is hunted by the Inquisition which is why he and Fatima go and on a quest to find the Bird King, a fantasy of their's since they were children. Side note: The story of the Bird King is an actual story called The Conference of the Birds. Oh, and did I mention that their relationship was completely platonic. Though in all seriousness, I wish that more books had this kind of deep platonic love. 

There were three other supporting characters and they helped to round out the story.

First, Luz is the antagonist of the story. She is a major figure of the Inquisition and all around religious fanatic. Though she is a terrible person, I loved the way Wilson wrote her. Luz and Margaery Tyrell would get along so well, as they both are devious women who know how to be sweet but at the same time can kill you while smiling. 

Vikram is Fatima's jinn friend and is the definition of eccentric. He can shapeshift. Also, he is the type of character that would say that he hates his fellow compatriots but on the inside really does love them. I wish that Wilson gave a bit more detail on how the jinn exist and the full extent of their powers. 

Then there is Gwennec, the monk that Fatima and Hassan, errr, kidnapped??? took as a stowaway?? when they were running from Luz. He doesn't have any super powers though he did bounce around in the story in a way that I was not expecting. 

Now the ending. *spoilers*

My biggest question is: How can everyone be the Bird King? To give you some context, Fatima and Hassan do find the island of the Bird King, thanks to Hassan and his abilities. Then when Fatima washes up on the island with Vikram, their jinn friend, where he tells her that she is the Bird King. At this point, I was pretty pissed because I was hoping for them to find like an actual bird (like Ivan and the Firebird). Then towards the end of the book, it is revealed that everyone is the Bird King and then I was super confused because what makes someone the Bird King? Can literally anyone be the Bird King? 

Then there is Luz. So this was when I kind of hit the wall in terms of being confused because all of a sudden Luz is on the island of the Bird King(s) and she has a LEVIATHAN.  I believe that she was washed up on shore after her ship capsized but it wasn't super clear. The Leviathan was apparently possessing her and making her think that she was speaking to God. Wilson doesn't really go into the whole bit with the leviathan which makes the story feel rushed. 

Oh and speaking of feeling rushed, there is a big battle at the end of the book with the Inquisition that I would really care for some context about. Also, again with the Leviathan, did it choose to help Fatima with the battle or did it go and escape and in turn leave a path of destruction that just happened to help Fatima. 

All in all, I loved this book until the ending. It felt rushed and took away from an overall beautiful book.

2.5 stars
This story is set in 1491 Grenada at the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
Fatima is the last concubine. Her friend Hassan is a mapmaker. Not a normal mapmaker, as his maps lead to Other places.
When Fatima learns that an Inquisitor has figured out Hassan's abilities, she knows they must flee or he will die.
This book was very slow. I liked Fatima and Hassan as characters, otherwise the rating would have been lower. This just wasn't for me.

What an inventive story! I really enjoyed the way the author used imaginative characterization to convey little nuances about the people, and the way that emotions are so vivid and strong - It really makes for a great reading experience! I would definitely recommend everyone read this book :)

I initially rated this 3.5 stars but as I write the review, I realized I don't have that much of a complaint.

The book is set in 1491 Granada and tells the story of Fatima who is a Circassian concubine. She fled from the palace along with her friend, Hassan, who could make magical maps. They were fleeing from the Spanish Inquisition that wanted Hassan dead because they see him as a sorcerer. Because of Hassan, this book just turned from a Historical fiction to Fantasy.

And I liked it.

Fatima is a compelling character. Sure, she can be annoying sometimes, but overall, I like her. And I absolutely loved her character arc. She really grew to become such a fierce woman. Same with Hassan. At first, both of them seemed to be too innocent to be on the outside world but they really made me get through the story even though it is very slow-paced.

And that's my main problem. The story is TOO slow-paced. I almost DNF this book but like I said, because of Hassan and Fatima, I kept going. I just hoped that the pace was faster. The writing is good though. Very good, actually. I love this writer's technique. I might try reading her other works. I just hope they're not as slow-paced as this.

And hopefully, all her books have like moral lessons such as this one. The lesson at the end is so GOOD.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, if you can ignore the pacing, I promise it's worth it. :) :)

I'm going to give this book a rating of 3 stars as the prose was beautifully written, however it was a very slow book to get into and unfortunately I couldn't make it past the first 15%

This book sounded really interesting to me when I first saw it, so I was super excited to be able to receive an advanced copy of it. It follows a concubine, Fatima, as she goes on the run with a friend who has been threatened. The writing of this book was beautiful, and I can tell that there was a lot of thought and love put into the writing of this book. I also loved the completely new idea of the book. I don’t think I’ve read anything like it or anything that was set in that time period/place. My problems with this book came when it just dragged on and on. There just wasn’t enough to hold my attention throughout the entire thing. I’m sure that other people would enjoy this a lot more than I did. This book is probably better for those who prefer a slow but well thought out historical fiction with a touch of magic.

I loved the message across the book and the growth that Fatima, the main character went through but ultimately the mix of magic and historical fiction did not grab my attention as I wished it had.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance ARC in return for an honest review.

Fatima is the Sultan’s concubine in medieval Granada. Her friend, the Cartographer Hassan has special skills, he can draw maps of imagined places, and the map becomes real.

Both of their lives change when the Inquisition arrive. A female member of the Inquisition Luz believes Hassan to be a sorcerer, and therefore needs converting to the Christian ways.

Fatima and Hassan have to depart the court for safety. Together they go on a physical and spiritual journey to escape the Spanish Inquisition (but nobody expects that Spanish Inquisition!) (sorry!!).

Here the plot seems to unravel a bit. It’s a historical fantasy and whilst it starts of strongly historical it drops into fantasy (which is no bad thing), but the final third it starts to unravel a bit, and then it just stops. It lost one star for the ending which just happened.

The book is about acceptance. Hassan is gay, the muslim friends form a friendship with a monk, who enjoys the difference in religions, and the Spanish Inquisition are terrifying.

Add a demon, jinn’s (other world creatures), and a few other oddities and what comes together is a really good concept. Which just slumps at the end.

Maybe it just didn’t tie it up for me – I wasn’t sure if the island they reached at the end, if they reached it because they had died, or if it was acceptance or what. For me this doesn’t make it a bad book as the journey really is enjoyable, and the characters funny with their interactions and squabbles. The ending was just – what? Is that it? What happened next? Is there a part 2? (hope so).

<I>Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy in exchange of an honest review</I>

G. Willow Wilson's writing blew me away! I walked away from this book with so many highlights of quotes, funny remarks, and beautiful descriptions. Set in the 15th century where sword, kingdoms, and political upstaging is at a high point, the war of Granada takes place. During the time in which the spread of Catholicism in Europe was driven with fear than love.

This story was so much more than I was expecting and did such a great job with interlacing both historical facts and mythical elements! However, like an historical fiction, it is hard to keep from creating slow elements. I found myself skimming through several pages at random points because storyline seemed to drag on or conflict seemed to span out longer than what I felt was necessary.

I recommend this book to all historical fantasy fiction lovers!

I’m not even sure what I just read. I mean, I know what I just read. I understood all the words, and they were well written and very vivid. The characters were well-drawn and real and complex and grew so very much throughout the book. The setting, especially at the beginning of the book, was fascinating and rich with history and atmosphere. I loved the historical perspective on Muslim Spain, even if it was at the bitter end for that history. Even the cover is art is very fitting–beautiful but yet weird and difficult to define. But somehow it just wasn’t enough for me.

So I think I wasn’t quite the correct audience for this book. I know G. Willow Wilson from her work on Ms. Marvel comics, which I love. This is a different, more literary beast, as reflected in the huge amount of character introspection and dialogue, especially after the first section of the book. There’s beauty and magic and strength and hope. But it’s also a sad, reflective book, with a lot of struggle and loss, and only hope to get one through to the ending, such as it is.

Fatima, the center of the story, coping with the attachment issues that make sense given her early life, and struggling to become strong and competent and independent for the first time–to be a free adult–still isn’t necessarily very likable. Beautiful and complex and stubbornly persistent. But also frustrating and difficult to connect with. Hassan, her super gay, magical-map-making best friend, is more straightforward and likable–perhaps a result of having had a more normal childhood? Their platonic love for each other is strong and enduring, but filled with so much petty fighting that they become tiresome at times. And then there’s Luz. Luz is beautiful and unworldly and terrible and seductive and terrifying in her holy madness. I couldn’t decide if I felt that she was a realistic portrayal of the madness of the Inquisition or too much to be believed, even within the parameters of a semi-magical world. Other characters, whose names I’ll avoid for spoilers sake, were rich and complex too–realistic, not always sympathetic. And the djinn–I loved the wicked, wonderful, mesmerizing, sometimes surprisingly helpful djinn in all their iterations. They were perhaps my favorite part of this story.

I appreciated the diversity within the book. Muslims, Christians, northern Europeans, Middle Eastern, gay and straight, and even an African character or two and a little person. The main characters were all pretty white, but overall the diversity felt organic and effortless. I’d never heard of Circassian women before, and found that history, especially what I researched outside the book, to be fascinating. And I loved the strength of the platonic male-female friendship depicted in this story. However, I didn’t particularly like the depiction of an almost rape–if those things trigger you, skip that section or the book. Once again, not badly written. It just made me queasy in its realism.

So despite individual highlights within the book, diverse, well-written characters, and some fascinating settings and historical information, at the end I felt myself wondering why I’d read it. Was that all there was? I can’t ask what the point was, because that was clearly growth and self-knowledge and building relationships and defeating intolerance. But why did I read it? (OK, I started it because it sounded fascinating and I loved Wilson’s Ms. Marvel, and I finished it because it was approved for Netgally and I wanted to be able to complete a review for it. But that doesn’t seem like good enough reasons for reading a whole book if it leaves me cold in the end.) I don’t think this is a bad book, and I think if you prefer your writing to be more literary, heavy in introspection and dialogue and ideas, feminist and LGBTQ-affirming, with some historical magical realism tossed in, that you might like this very much. I didn’t, and I’m sad about that.

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Where do I even start with this review? I have had such a hard time trying to put my thoughts on this book to words. Every time I start to write it all out I end up deleting and starting again. So this time I'm just going to be brutally honest and let you know where my brain is at while I write this because otherwise it may never get written. My brain is confused. A jumbled mess, because this isn't a bad book. In fact it has a great message, and the writing at times is kind of beautiful. The whole book is really well written and you can tell the author has a lot of knowledge about what was going on in the world during the time that the book takes place. It has an easy to follow plot, with the exception of a few odd parts, but all in all once I got into this story I was interested enough to want to keep reading to find out what happens in the end. So what is it that has me so put off? Why couldn't I love this book?

The first thing that kept me from truly loving The Bird King was that it is soooooo slooooowwww. For example, The Bird King is a nice solid 403 pages. I just recently read A Curse So Dark and Lonely which is 496 pages and I finished the entire book in one day. But when reading The Bird King, it took me almost two and a half weeks to finish the book. The only word that can describe the difference between the writing styles is that the writing in The Bird King is very dense. Every sentence is so packed full of description and meaning that it gave my brain a work out to try and decipher the meaning behind each word. There is so much to take in and comprehend while reading this book and that in itself slows my reading by a lot. Then on top of that when it wasn't a beautiful description, it tended to get a little dry with facts and historical information. There were times when I thought to myself, " I just don't care about this" and wanted to skim ahead to more of the plot. This is why I tend to struggle with historical fiction books because I really want to retain the information that the author is giving me because it has to be important to the story in some way. But then I find myself struggling to understand how this relates to the story and it takes away from the flow of the plot.

The message of love and loyalty to friends and to oneself throughout this book is really beautiful and I appreciated that part of this book very much. I think that the friendship between Fatima and Hassan is really precious and I love that they care for each other so much. Although sometimes I thought Fatima to be particularly spoiled and bratty I still cherished everything that Hassan cared for. I almost wish that the book had been written from his POV instead. Their journey from beginning to end is such a strong message of freedom and love. And it felt so passionate at times that it moved me. But then there are times where Fatima drove me insane with her spoiled tendencies and how she treated Hassan. But that could just be me being protective of him because I just loved him so much and think he deserves the world!! But it was such an interesting dynamic of characters and the way they grow throughout the journey is pretty powerful.

While the rest of the book took a pretty clear path and was more or less easy to follow, the ending kind of got away from me. I won't say too much so I don't spoil anything, but it was so different from the rest of the story to me that it almost felt like a different book completely. I felt so confused and the only thing I could do at that point was just go with it. It was almost like the book started out very realistic and historical and then as the book goes on, it morphs into more and more of a fantasy. Here I am thinking its the story of how a concubine and a map-maker with a special skill escape a palace to free themselves. But instead we've got Djinn's and sea creatures, and dragons? And maybe even some time travel thrown in there? I just couldn't fathom what was going on by the end of the book and so I threw all reason to the wind.

I think that there were too many little things that kept me from truly loving this book. I found a lot of redeeming qualities that made me stick it through to the end, but it never had me feeling like this was going to be one of the greats. I think that for the right person, this might be an instant favorite, but for me it just wasn't quite what I could enjoy. v

A fellow blogger was reading this book and seemed to like it. It was right up my alley with it being historical fiction, set in Granada, 1492, so I went and requested a copy on Netgalley. I don’t know if I had too high hopes for this one or expected something different, but reading The Bird King I found myself having pretty mixed feelings.

The year is 1492, Castile and Aragon are already united and converted to Christianity, the Inquisition is already established. The only Muslim kingdom that still stands is Granada, though it’s already done, only the royal palace lives in relative peace. However, they already feel the consequences of war – supplies are less and less, servants are dismissed. Here lives Fatima in luxury, who is Lady Aisha’s (the sultan’s mother) slave during the day and the sultan’s concubine during the night. Despite her low status, she lives a pretty spoiled life. Her only friend is Hassan, the mapmaker who is only tolerated in the palace (he prefers the company of men) because of his magical abilities. When the time eventually comes when Granada has to capitulate, Fatima decides to save her friend’s life and make a run for their freedom. Along the way they find unlikely allies and are battered by doubts whether they can find the legendary Bird King – the one they created stories about since their childhood.

Let’s start with things I liked – the side characters. First we have Vikram – the first time I read this name, the first thing that came to mind was that Friends episode where Phoebe tries to lie to Mike about having a serious relationship before, with a guy named Vikram. Anyway, Vikram is a jinn and thus a fickle creature. Which makes him unpredictable and also interesting. Sadly we don’t learn much about him, but he is a pretty entertaining addition to the story. Probably the most entertaining and I almost wish he would have been the MC.

And if side characters, I also liked Gwennec, who had some enjoyable banters with Hassan and had a great sense of preservation – he had no problem adapting to the circumstances. He was also the most selfless character and the purest. Despite their differences both culturally and religiously, he is swept away by the events and is forced to share some of Fatima’s and Hassan’s fate.

I actually enjoyed the beginning of The Bird King, and was really happy to read a book with an Arabic setting. I couldn’t wait to learn more about the culture, the history, the way the royal household dealt with the end of the war. Practically, I was expecting it to be more historical fiction than fantasy. Sadly, that’s not the case. We do get a glimpse into the life in the palace through Fatima’s eyes, but that’s not nearly enough to get a full picture, to really understand how rich and colorful that world used to be. Honestly, this story could have been set in any other time, as real historical events hardly played a crucial role in the events apart from forcing Fatima and Hassan to flee. That could have been replaced by any other event fictional or not.

As I mentioned, the Inquisition is already established by this time and one of the inquisitors – Baronesa Luz – gets to play the villain. She is as sweet and harmless as she is cruel and fanatic. I actually preferred her too over the other two MCs as her personality was more interesting and layered. Besides, she’s got a great character arc too.

As for the two MCs… I think they annoyed me more times than not. Fatima is spoiled and keeps making decisions I couldn’t fathom why – sleeping with one of the characters was one of many. At times she was brave and strong and I thought, well okay, we are getting somewhere and I might going to like her, but I never really got there. I had similar problems with Hassan. He could have much more role besides being the only thing Fatima couldn’t have, and playing the jealous friend from time to time. I just didn’t really get the relationship between these two. Not quite love, but more than friendship which ends up just being that. I don’t know. I get what the author intended to show here, but it just really didn’t work out for me.

Let me say a few words about the plot. Honestly, after finishing the book, I still don’t really know what was the point. I mean besides the obvious things: freedom, getting as far away from the inquisition as possible in search of a mythical creature, fighting for love. All I could think for the majority of the book was: but where is this story heading? I’m not quite sure I’m satisfied with the ending either. Things happen a bit too abruptly and the end game would have deserved a bit more building up or a different ending altogether.

In the end, The Bird King is a fantastical adventure story in historical disguise. It would have been much better if it focused more on historical events, even politics, or if we got a deeper look into the Arab mythology, if the religions clashed more to give us a broader understanding of why these cultures fought with each other. The Bird King had so much potential to be outstanding, but it was reduced to a bit of a clichéd fantasy book instead. Though, in all honesty, there were some aspects I really liked. Hassan’s ability with the map for example is really cool. I also applaud for the choice of having a character like him, who struggles with his own identity and faith, trying to work it out how to live with himself and God.

The Bird King is a really fast read – I had to check constantly if it really was 440 pages long, because I seemed to fly through it. It sucks you in right from the start, and though it lost me along the way, I’m pretty sure others will find it a really entertaining read. I had problems, but these mostly come from the fact that I expected something different going in and it didn’t deliver for me. But I recommend checking it out nonetheless if you are in search for a book with a female MC, diverse characters, exotic setting and an adventure. The Bird King is the story of love, sacrifice and never giving up on your dreams.

For some reason I really couldn't get into this book, which makes me sad since I was really excited when I was approved for the ARC.
Overall, I like the atmosphere of the book and quite like the main character Fatima. However, it felt like the book lacked in some ways that I can't properly explain. I feel like it could definitely be a personal view, since so many of my goodreads friends liked it. I'd try reading it again in the future, maybe I'd feel different.